Google used machine learning to crack down on fraud on its shopping site

Google Shopping's trust and safety team reportedly found 5,000 merchant accounts that were scamming users. Google is buckling down on fraud on its shopping site after a company executive was reportedly scammed while purchasing a Bluetooth headset. The executive, CNBC reports, ordered the high-end headset earlier this year when he saw it was selling for a low price. But it was too good to be true: The merchant, despite claiming to be in the US, was actually based in Vietnam, and took the Google employee's credit card information without ever sending the product. When the employee reported the case to his co-workers at Google, they not only banned the bogus seller from listing new products but also kicked off a global probe which identified 5,000 merchant accounts that were scamming users. Google has dealt with a series of scams on its services, ranging from Google Docs to ads.